US Congressmen cajole Clinton to tighten screws on Pak

A United States house of representatives panel has urged
President Bill Clinton against using his newly acquired powers to
waive nuclear-related sanctions ''to allow the sale of any military
equipment or services'' to Pakistan ''until a civilian,
democratically-elected government is returned to power'' there.

A resolution, passed by a voice vote at the Asia Pacific panel of
the International Relations Committee yesterday, expressed
concern at the military coup and called for ''rapid'' restoration of
civilian rule in that country.

It, however, deleted the provision, which asked the president
''not to consider reinstatement of Pakistan's eligibility for
international military education and training.''

Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, was the only member who
voted against the deletion and insisted on sending a strong message
to the military ruler for toppling the democratically-elected
government of Nawaz Sharief.

The resolution was moved by Democratic Congressman Sam Gejdenson.
His party colleagues Gary Ackerman and Tom Lantos were its
co-sponsors.

Earlier, Gejdenson said the cause of democracy in Pakistan had
suffered a mortal wound. It was a sad irony that the president
signed a bill a couple of days ago, which gave him the authority to
waive sanctions against India and Pakistan and ''we are today
(Wednesday) marking up a resolution asking him to not waive at least
the military aspect of these sanctions against Pakistan,'' he added.

Ackerman, who is co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus on
India and Indian Americans said, ''I strongly believe that the
administration will be doing a great mistake if it in any way
initiates measures to accommodate the military rulers simply
citing the supercilious argument that 'there is no alternative in
sight'.''

''Notwithstanding General Pervez Musharraf's moderate words, we
should not be lulled into thinking that this will be a moderate government,'' he added.
He called upon General Musharraf to immediately announce a timetable for the restoration of democracy.

Earlier, the panel unanimously adopted the Congressman's other
resolution, urging President Clinton to ''broaden our (US) special
relationship with India into a strategic partnership.''

It urged the president to travel to India as it ''continues to be
a shining example of democracy for all of Asia to follow.'' It
congratulated Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his re-election.

Speaking on his resolution, Ackerman said, ''the contrasting
events in India and Pakistan over a single 24 hour period speak
eloquently about the new challenges and opportunities that we face
in South Asia. In India, we have seen hundreds of millions of voters
enthusiastically exercise their votes in a free and fair election.''

''It is high time we seriously begin to recognise this fact and
graduate from mere platitudes to some tangible policy changes towards
India,'' he added.